A Breath Of Fresh Air
by PWTMC
Summary: Naruto tries to repair a broken Sasuke. NaruSasu.


OOO

Sometimes Naruto wondered if Sasuke could even be fixed. Sasuke was so damaged before he left Konoha and whatever it was that he did (Naruto is sure he hasn't even heard half of it, Sasuke refuses to tell him) hurt him twice as bad. Sasuke was turned into an empty shell of the boy Naruto remembers, the strong and determined Uchiha (even if he was determined to do all the wrong things) that he fell in love with.

He still loved Sasuke more than he could even express, it was just different and seeing him in so much pain all the damn time made Naruto sad, too.

In bed, Sasuke whimpered and rolled over, his back to Naruto. With Sasuke it was impossible to tell if he was whimpering like that because it was just the way he slept or if he was having nightmares. Sasuke had nightmares often and Naruto could always tell in the morning by the stiff way he woke up and the protective inward hunch of his shoulders, but that wasn't every night. Sasuke never slept silently. Way back when Team 7 was still a thing, Sasuke slept still and silent, the perfect shinobi. Not anymore, though.

The blonde slid into the bed next to him, on top of the overheated sheets Sasuke insisted on sleeping under. It was the middle of summer, humid and hot all the time, and Sasuke just didn't sleep without covers. He would rather have a heat stroke and die. Naruto didn't understand it, but those quirks were simply what made up Sasuke in his entirety these days.

He had to buy an air conditioner. He didn't like Sasuke sleeping like that without one.

Next to him, the Uchiha rolled again, his back flat, arm extending across his face and covering his closed eyes. Naruto frowned. Sasuke was always trying to hide from something, even in his sleep.

Ever since Naruto had dragged him back to Konoha, kicking and screaming, he wondered if it had been a mistake. Sasuke seemed to be deteriorating here. He hated it, Naruto could tell, but sometimes when they were together it all seemed to fade away. Sasuke could be Sasuke around him those few times Naruto managed to fuck him into a clean slate, memory-less, only concerned with the physical pleasure blocking out the perpetual pain.

Or, other times, it would just happen. Sasuke would wake up in a good mood and be normal (or at least pretend to be) without using sex as a crutch. Naruto liked those days best, but they were few and far in between.

And making a point to wait for them hurt more than dealing with the whole shebang headfirst, so Naruto never banked on them.

Sasuke rolled again, back to his side, and he brought his knees up to his chest. His eyes were closed, but he was awake. Naruto could tell by the way his breath had started to come in shuddering exhales and sharper, yet still silent, inhales.

Naruto moved to face Sasuke's extended back, bringing one tan hand toward it to rub up and down the path of his spine – hard, just the way Sasuke likes it.

"Are you alright, Sasuke?" He asked.

Sasuke simply nodded back. He was in the midst of a panic attack, a nightly ritual for him. Naruto didn't understand why they came so frequently when there was nothing new for Sasuke to worry about, but they still came, stealing Sasuke's breath away, making it damn near impossible for him to regulate it again.

Sometimes they were so bad they made him dizzy and Tsunade said the only thing she could do for him was put him on anti-depressants. Sasuke refused them time and time again. He was so used to having a hard time catching a breath it didn't even scare him anymore. They did scare Naruto, though. Sometimes he felt like Sasuke would die from them one of these days.

That might not be possible, though.

"Oh, God, I need a drink..." Sasuke mumbled, covering his face with his hands. His back still shook and Naruto could tell the worst wasn't even over.

"No you don't." Naruto replied. He hated it when Sasuke drank.

For Sasuke to be reduced to this in just a few short years... It was almost too much to handle. Sasuke was twenty-four years old, same as Naruto and same as Sakura, but Sasuke lived like he was dying. It killed Naruto a little, too.

Sasuke spoke again, deep voice coming out deceptively even.

"Kabuto used to tell me to hold my breath and they would go away."

He laughed, short and bitter, sarcastic.

"I don't have any breath to hold. What a fucking joke."

Naruto sighed and leaned forward to press a kiss into the back of Sasuke's neck. It might take a while to coax him back to sleep tonight.

OOO

They went for a walk in the morning. Sasuke wasn't normally one for going out these days, which Naruto figured was understandable considering damn near the entire continent despised everything about him, but today Naruto managed to talk him into it. It was still relatively early and it was nice out and Sasuke needed to get out and do something, after all.

As much as Sasuke would rather stay inside and read his depressing books or do yoga (but probably, most days, just open a bottle of sake), that wasn't a healthy way to live. Not to mention that after last night the thought that he could use some fresh air only sounded even better.

So Naruto took him out.

It was early and quiet and the sky was still a couple shades too dark. At their regular training field, it was even quieter. Their footsteps even fell near silent. Naruto found it hard to deal with. Judging by the scowl on Sasuke's face, he wasn't too happy and the tension rolling off of him would only worsen as time passed.

Time to break the ice.

Naruto moved closer to his moping Uchiha and grabbed his hand, lacing their fingers together.

"Doesn't it feel good to get out of the house, Sasuke?"

"No."

"Why not? It's good for you."

Sasuke shrugged, "It's hot and sticky, and if it wasn't so early it'd be headache inducing. I can hardly breathe out here."

Not to mention the obvious, that Sasuke just didn't like to be out and around people. He was very accustomed to living on his own with just Naruto and his own wavering sanity. Naruto chose this ungodly hour with that specific thought in mind, but it didn't seem to matter much to Sasuke. He hated the prospect of bumping into someone like Sakura as much as he seemed to hate the birds in the sky.

"Hey, boys."

And speak of the devil. Kind of.

Kakashi appeared to materialize out of thin air, his presence gone totally unnoticed to blunt and completely in their faces in less than a single second. He was one of those guys, one of those sneaky ANBU men, that tended to do that a lot. Naruto had known Kakashi for more than a decade now and he would never get used to that.

Kakashi could still make him feel like a genin sometimes.

"Good morning, Kakashi-sensei." The blonde greeted, nudging Sasuke to do the same. Sasuke's greeting went as far as a quirked eyebrow. He was never particularly talkative when they had been a whole team, or even when Kakashi was training him one-on-one, and things had only gotten worse since Sasuke came back to Konoha.

Mostly on Kakashi's side.

The normally level-headed and passive, almost stoic, Hatake made a point of giving Sasuke the cold shoulder. Their conversations were always stilted, usually ending with a passive-aggressive comment from Kakashi followed by him promptly leaving. He just couldn't stand to be around Sasuke anymore. Naruto could understand where Kakashi was coming from one hundred percent, but sometimes Kakashi's actions, while intelligently crafted, were incredibly immature.

Him addressing Sasuke's presence without so much as a frown was a giant step in the right direction and here Sasuke was, willing to ignore it. Because just as immature as Kakashi could be, Sasuke could top it.

The jonin didn't seem to care that Sasuke didn't say hello. He wouldn't be looking for his approval ever again even if he could manage to act civil around him. Sasuke had done quite a few things to stab Kakashi in the back, after all. He went the whole nine yards, almost as if he was doing it on purpose, from turning a jutsu Kakashi created and used often into a notoriously evil thing by attaching his likeness to it to stomping all over the values Kakashi struggled to instill in him by leaving the village.

Kakashi nods, bringing his hands up to rest on his hips, "What are you doing out here so early?"

Kakashi was notoriously lazy. The real question should have been what he was doing out so early, but Naruto opted to not even bother asking. Kakashi would just dodge the question entirely or give some crappy excuse. Typical him.

"Just out for a walk." Naruto explained. Up until now, he hadn't even realized how awkward it might be for Sasuke to be seen here at the training fields, where Sasuke himself used to throw off jutsu after jutsu, where he used to sprint miles and miles, and where he used to practice his chakra control – before he chose to abandon Konoha. Now that he was back, he wasn't even permitted to practice.

Kakashi looked as disinterested as ever to hear the news and he maintained it as he told the boys, "I just completed my masterpiece."

Naruto's jaw literally dropped. For a long while there, he was uncertain if Kakashi would be able to do it at all, yet here he was standing carelessly at daybreak dropping a bombshell like this. Kakashi was telling them that he had finally finished his second original jutsu. Not a lot of people could say that they could do the same and Kakashi didn't appear too excited about it.

Naruto understood that Kakashi was a firm believer in keeping it humble, but if there was ever a time to celebrate it would be now. He'll end up going down in history for this.

Since Sasuke's return Kakashi had vowed to take his chidori out of his arsenal permanently and replace it with this new jutsu. Something that was supposed to match that had to be truly amazing. It was a major accomplishment.

"Why aren't you more excited?!" The blonde yelled, noticing Sasuke's hand tighten around his. The Uchiha was probably preparing himself for Kakashi's passive-aggressive show in this new technique.

Anything to stick it to him.

And Naruto could feel the irritation on him.

"I'm just tired is all." Kakashi explained. These things that Kakashi did usually ended up draining him quick and there was no doubt about him furthering his progress with that sharingan of his. Maybe this was even a completely sharingan jutsu.

For all the time Kakashi spoke of this new invention, he didn't give much away. Naruto had no idea what it was.

"Since you're already here, how about I show it off?" The Hatake then offered, eyebrow quirked and a smile under his mask. This bit he was obviously ready for.

Naruto definitely wouldn't turn down an offer like this and to make the moment even better, Kakashi was willing to share this moment with both of his former students.

"Hell yeah! Let's go." He replied, enthusiastic.

Kakashi turned to lead the way, deeper into their clear expanse of neatly cut grass. His hands tucked into his pockets once more as he said, "Sasuke will particularly appreciate it."

OOO

Note – I've pretty much completely stopped following the cannon storyline (it's getting a bit ridiculous if you ask me...), so expect a lot of AU here. If you planned on being nit-picky with my story, you've come to the wrong place. Seriously, when it comes to experiences characters had in cannon Naruto, I'll only be including the convenient ones.

Just so we're all at an understanding. I've been getting one too many flames as of late :/


End file.
